Valve for hydraulic control systems



June 18, 1. E. A. CHAMBERLIN VALVE FOR HYDRAULIC CONTROL SYSTEMS FiledMay 14, 1938 Patented June 18, 1940 UNITED STATES VALVE FOR HYDRAULICCONTROL SYSTEMS Earl A. Chamberlin, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, assignor toChandler Company, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, a

corporation of Iowa Application May 14, 1938, Serial No. 207,972

1 Claim.

This invention relates to hydraulic control systems and has particularrelation to valves suitable for use in farm water supply systems and thelike.

In water supply systems and the like, as for instance farm water supplysystems, it is customary to provide a well pump or deep well pump forforcing water to the surface. This pump is operated by means of a pumpjack. It is desirable that the water either be delivered at the pumpspout or delivered under pressure to a lateral connection which carriesthe water to an elevated supply tank, pressure tank or the like. Thevalve for controlling the flow of water must operate at relatively lowpressures and must be adapted for controlling the flow of large volumesof water through relatively large conduits. The valve for this purposemust be inexpensive yet must be reliable, and must provide a tight sealwhen closed.

The devices of the prior art have not been entirely satisfactory for thepurpose, and it is an object of my invention to provide a valve whichwill be satisfactory to meet the above requirements.

Another object of my invention is to provide a self-aligning valve.

Another object of my invention is to provide a valve, the parts of whichwill not deteriorate over long periods of time and which will require noadjustment and few, if any, replacement of parts.

Other and further features and objects of the invention will be moreapparent to those skilled in the art upon a consideration of theaccompanying drawing and following specification, wherein is disclosed asingle exemplary embodi ment of the invention, with the understanding,however, that such changes may be made therein as fall within the scopeof the appended claim, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In said drawing:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a pumping system including a pumpand bridge member and illustrating a valve constructed according to oneembodiment of my invention.

Figure 2 is a view in section showing the valve structure.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view in perspective of the valve showing thehandle in alternative positions, and

Figure 4 is a view in perspective of the valve showing the parts inexploded relation.

Referring now to the drawing, and to Figure 1 in particular, this figureshows a complete wawashers.

ter supply system such as might be used on a farm. A pump, indicatedgenerally at- [0, in-

cludes a casing at H enclosing a discharge pipe l2 and a pump rod H3.The pump rod is, of course, connected to a pump cylinder (not shown) atthe bottom of the discharge pipe and alsowithin the casing. A cap Iseals the top of the casing and prevents contamination of the watersupply by surface water and, at the same time, supports the entiredischarge pipe and cylinder 10 assembly.

A pump arm, or other mechanism such as the power operated pump jack, isshown at It and this arm is pivotally connected to the pump rod. Thepump mechanism is operated in the usual manner and forces water up thedischarge pipe to a bridge member Hi. The pump rod extends through thetop of this bridge member and leakage is prevented around the pump rodby means of a sealing unit, as shown at IT.

The bridge member is generally in the form of a casting cored out topermit water to travel in either direction toward the pipe I8 which isclosed at the top and acts as an air chamber, or toward the outlet pipeIS. A valve 20 is usually installed at this point to divert the water inone of two directions, either to the pump spout 2| or through a pipeline 22 to a pressure or elevated storage tank 23. A check valve 24should be installed in the pipe line to the elevated tank to preventback pressure on the valve. A lateral piping system, or a'pipe as shownat 26, may be connected to the distribution system to supply waterwherever desired. The pump, bridge memher, the necessary valves, and thelike, are generally installed in a well pit, as shown at 25, in ordernot only to conceal the apparatus but to prevent freezing in coldweather.

The divertingvalve 20 has, in the prior art, generally consisted of anordinary screw type, two way valve or two separate valves. Such valvesare not only slow acting but frequently require servicing to replace thevalve seat wash- 'ers. Sand is frequently present in the water and isvery destructive to the valve seat and to the Furthermore the valve, asgenerally located in the well pit, is in a very inconvenient positionfor servicing. My invention is directed to avalve generally adapted toovercome the deficiencies of the prior art.

A valve constructed according to one embodiment of my invention includesgenerally a housing including an inlet and two outlet ports, the outletports having seats on either one of which a soft rubber ball may becaused to rest by simply swinging a lever arm or pushing or pulling arod, connected with the valve, from a point which may be at aconsiderable distance from the valve.

My valve structure is illustrated in detail in Figures 2 and i. Ahousing, as indicated at 30, has a threaded intake opening 3| and twooutlet openings 32 and 33. Union members, as indicated at 33a, may ormay not be made integral with any one of these three openings.

The body member 36 is, of course, hollow and has a large threadedopening 34 at one side to permit access to the interior. This opening isclosed by a cap and guiding member 36 which is threaded to be screwedinto the opening 34. A valve stem 3'! is inserted through a bore in thecenter of this cap and the bore is sealed and leakage is prevented alongthe stem by means of a packing arrangement and packing nut indicated at38. A boss 39 is provided within the body member and at the sideopposite the large oening 34. The inner end 31a of the stem 3? may bejournalled in a bearing portion formed in the boss 39.. The member 4| isan enlarged section of the valve stem near the inner end of the stem ormay be an individual sleeve member pinned in place on the stem.

A resilient member such as the soft rubber ball 12 is freely supportedon a rod 43 having a head 43a at the outer end to retain the ball inplace and having threads at the other end which may be screwed into athreaded bore in the member 4| or may be a solid part of member H. Therubber ball 42 is arranged and has a hole therethrough of a size toallow it to slide easily on the rod 43 and to permit easy rotation ofthe ball on the rod. The valve seat members 32a and 33?) are so arrangedwithin the body that when the valve is assembled and the stem 32' isturned, the rubber ball 1-2 will seat on one or the other of the twovalve seats.

The construction permitting the rubber ball to float freely on the rod43 makes it possible for the ball to adapt itself to any misalignment ofparts. Furthermore, the ball 42 has no given point of contact with thevalve seat. Therefore, any wear that will occur will be distributedwidely over the entire surface of the ball. It will also be apparentthat any sand coming into contact with the ball structure will notnecessarily be embedded in it as is apt to be the case in a screwoperated valve. The ball, being preferably made of more resilientmaterial than is ordinarily used for washers in the screw type valve,will permit of small indentations being made in the surface without anypermanent damage. This ball may, of course, be of any suitable resilientmaterial besides rubber.

The outer end of the stem 3'! terminates in a threaded portion 31b and asquared portion 3'50, the last being shown in Figure 4 by dotted lines.A Weighted lever arm 44, having a square hole within the end oppositethe weighted end, is placed on the squared portion of the stem and heldin place by the nut 46 on the threaded portion 31b. The squared portionof the shaft permits the weighted arm to be placed in any one of fourpositions on the stem, and this in turn permits the valve to be used inany one of four positions, that is, the intake may be at the bottom, thetop, the left or the right side of the body.

The arrangement of the weighted arm M and the valve stem is such thatwhen the weighted arm is vertical with the weighted portion uppermost,the sealing ball 42 will be in a position midway between the two valveseats 32a and 331). It can readily be seen that when the weight isthrown to either side, the ball sealing member will cover one or theother of the two outlets and the weighted lever arm will hold the ballin that position until thrown in the opposite direction.

The weighted arm i l may also be supplied with a secondary arm portion44a extending approximately at right angles to the weighted arm. Aremotely controlled rod may be pivotally mounted in a hole 441) providedin the outer end of this auxiliary arm. Such a red is illustrated at 45in Figure 1 and permits the operation of the valve from a point aboveand outside of the well pit.

It should be apparent to anyone skilled in the art that I have provideda valve that may be operated to easily and quickly divert the water ineither of two directions, also that I have provided a valve which shouldrequire relatively little service.

It is also apparent that my valve sealing means and weighted armstructure may be modified or adapted for use in other types of valves.

Although I have described a specific embodiment of my invention, it isapparent that modlfications thereof may be made by those skilled in theart. Such modifications may be made Without departing from the spiritand scope of my invention as set forth in the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

In a valve having one inlet port and two outlet ports, a T housinghaving an enlarged portion between two of its branches, a removablyattached circular side wall adapted to interfit into i the enlargedportion of the T housing, a valve seat constituting a portion of eachoutlet port and the valve seats located at substantially with respect toeach other, a valve stem projecting through the removably attachedcircular side wall mounting with the stem at right angles to the planeof the T, a weighted lever arm on the outer end of said stem, saidweight adapted to hold the valve in a fixed position, and an eye on thelever arm at a right angle to the Weight to receive operating controls,a ball and means for loosely mounting the ball, in offset relation onthe inner end of the stem comprising a sleeve pinned on the stem havinga radially projecting arm with the ball loosely mounted on the arm, theposition of the valve seats and the relation of the stem being asdefined in order that rotation of the stem through 90 will selectivelydirect fluid through one outlet and close ofi the other.

EARL A. CHAMBERLIN.

